Stranger Things
by Daenar
Summary: Sometimes it's hard to find the right words.


'STRANGER THINGS'  
  
Author: Daenar Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius Productions, CBS and Paramount Pictures. No copyright infringement intended.  
  
Category: Vignette Rating: PG  
  
Spoilers: Everything up to 'A Merry Little Christmas' Summary: Finding the right words is always hard.  
  
Author's note: Just a little something that I think would be nice if it happened on the show right now. I stumbled over a language site and the idea came to me.  
  
This hasn't been beta-read. Sorry for any mistakes.  
  
**********  
  
Jan. 1st 2004 0412 Local Harm's apartment North of Union Station Washington, D.C.  
  
"Harm?"  
  
Wiping his face with his hand and sighing wearily, he looked up. "Yeah?"  
  
"Aren't you going to sleep at all?" Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Mattie sat down on the far end of the couch, slipping her bare feet under his blanket.  
  
"How would you know if I was awake or not?" he asked, pulling himself up and groaning slightly when his back reproached him for letting her sleep on his orthopedic mattress.  
  
"I live here," Mattie stated dryly, handing him another cushion. "And your glass brick wall doesn't exactly keep the light out, you know."  
  
"I might have been sleeping with the lights still on," he tried, giving her a wry grin.  
  
"Sure, 'cause you always do." Mattie's eyebrows had risen almost up to her hairline. "So, what's up?"  
  
"Maybe taking a young girl out on New Year's Eve is too much for an old man like me."  
  
"So you're too tired to sleep or what? Sure."  
  
"Stranger things have happened," he shrugged.  
  
Mattie cocked her head. "Then you should really be glad it was just me. I'm sure Mac would've wanted you to last longer than that."  
  
He felt himself stiffen. "Off limits, Miss Grace," he replied curtly. "Go back to bed. Sorry if the lights bothered you. I'll turn them out now."  
  
Pursing her lips, she sized him up with her eyes. "Hey, I don't know what happened but ever since Christmas I feel I'd like to know why she helped us and you looked the way you did. Don't you think I should have a clue about what's going on in my guardian's private life?"  
  
"The only private life I have is you. And even for New Year it's way past your bedtime."  
  
She wouldn't be deterred. "Don't worry, I'm already out of here," she said, holding up a hand as if to stop him from cutting her off. "But let me get this straight: she shows up in court, just like that, and paints a picture of you that makes my dad's face go all white. Then she tells the judge she'd want you to be the father of her children. You stare at her, but not as if she'd told you anything new. More like someone shouted 'bingo' and you don't believe yours is the winning ticket."  
  
"Mattie..."  
  
"Then she talks to my dad and says something that obviously gets through to him. She takes me out to where she knows exactly she'll find you right now. When she's about to leave you ask where she's going. But not like, 'Hey, what are you doing tonight?' More like, 'What, you're leaving? Now?' She says she's going out on a date and looks like she's about to cry. And you tell me you have no private life." Her gaze was challenging him to contradict the evidence she had laid out before him.  
  
Harm felt his cheeks starting to burn and hated himself for it. "How would you know what she looked like?" he retorted. "You were hugging me like a creeper."  
  
"You were staring so hard at her that you didn't even notice when I turned my head," she shot back.  
  
With a frown, he crossed his arms in front of his chest, mirroring Mattie's position. "Okay," he gave in, heaving an annoyed sigh. "I see your point. We're going to be a family so we're getting to know each other, right? So just you get an idea what this is all about: I gave up my job 'cause she needed help. Instead of thanking me she threw a lot of ugly things in my face and rode off into the sunset with someone else. Helping me with your case seems to be her way of trying to pay what she feels she owes me. That's it."  
  
"And if it were her way to says she's sorry for what happened?" Mattie inquired, all irony gone from her voice.  
  
He vehemently shook his head. "Nope. She's always been the one to tell me I was incapable of saying things out loud. So if she were sorry she'd just tell me. And what's more, she once told me that apologizing was a sign of weakness. She'd never contradict herself by trying to make amends."  
  
"Why not? Stranger things have happened."  
  
"Not to me," he insisted.  
  
"They just did."  
  
The smug, knowing smile she gave him was confusing. He locked his gaze to hers, narrowing his eyes, trying to appear stern. "What do you mean?"  
  
Now, strangely, her expression turned a little guilty. "I really didn't mean to read it but when you asked me yesterday to print out that email your mom forwarded you, I accidentally hit the 'next' button and... well... I printed Mac's out as well."  
  
Mac's? "I don't recall getting an email from Mac," he said pointedly, seeing her flinch under his stare.  
  
"That's because I accidentally opened it and it wasn't marked 'unread' anymore when you checked your mail." Mattie apparently didn't quite know where to look.  
  
The slight surge of adrenaline that he felt running through his body only made him angrier still. "So it wasn't exactly 'unread' anymore when I checked, I guess" he snapped, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Does the term 'privacy' ring a bell somewhere?"  
  
She met his gaze, her face as apologetic as could be. "I told you, I didn't mean to do it! I only noticed it wasn't your mom's mail when I went to get the printout. I didn't check the address because it didn't look like a letter anyway! More like some ad for a Japanese dictionary. It was only the last sentences that made me understand it was private! Look, I'm sorry."  
  
"A Japanese dictionary?" What the hell...  
  
Instead of answering, Mattie got up, quickly vanished into the bedroom and came back again with a folded sheet of paper. "What would you call it?"  
  
Frowning, he unfolded it, only to see immediately what she was talking about.  
  
Sumimasen: Excuse me. (As in: do I have your attention?)  
  
Shitsurei shimasu: Excuse me. (As in: excuse me for taking up your time.)  
  
Watakushi ga warukatta: I'm sorry. (As in: I was wrong.)  
  
Ikenai koto o shimashita: I'm sorry. (As in: I have done something I shouldn't have.)  
  
Moushiwake arimasen: I'm sorry. (As in: I have no excuse.)  
  
Gomen: Forgive me.  
  
There are so many things I'm sorry for. Even Japanese doesn't have enough idioms to cover them all. The bottom line is:  
  
I apologize, for everything. Please, forgive me.  
  
A happy New Year to you and Mattie. Mac  
  
Harm's thoughts were spinning in his head. How was he supposed to react? He felt he still had a right to be mad - but she had clearly swallowed her pride, for the second time even. He definitely hadn't expected her to show up in court after his parting statement. And now this...  
  
"This might come in handy," Mattie eventually broke into his musings, shyly handing him a slip of paper.  
  
'Kashitsuwoyurusu: to forgive a person for his/her fault'  
  
"I found it in an online dictionary. I know it's not it the right verb form, but she might just understand," she added hopefully.  
  
Harm couldn't help smiling. "You think so? So you say I should accept her apologies?"  
  
Mattie tentatively smiled back. "Might be a start."  
  
"Yeah..." He studied the teenage handwriting, touched by the gesture. Then he looked up again and smirked. "And what about my privacy?"  
  
Leaning forward, Mattie took a long look on the email printout. "Ikenai koto o shimashita. Gomen," she finally read aloud, eyeing him questioningly.  
  
"Doitashimashite," he answered smugly. "You're welcome," he translated, chuckling as he saw her astonished stare. "We tried a case in Okinawa a few years ago. But don't worry: this is the only thing I remember."  
  
"So you forgive me?" Mattie asked as if to make sure he really wasn't mad at her.  
  
"This once. After all: stranger things have happened."  
  
THE END 


End file.
